


Book 8: Moonlark

by QueenMae_theGay



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-13 02:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17479112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenMae_theGay/pseuds/QueenMae_theGay
Summary: My personal take on what would happen post-Flashback (*MAJOR FLASHBACK SPOILERS!*)





	1. One:

The letters flashed green in her face, mocking her. 

SOPHIE FOSTER IS UNMATCHABLE

 

It had been hours. Eda and Grady, still not quite Mom and Dad, had been called in, confusion on everyone’s face. She wasn’t sure if it was real in that moment. This was supposed to be the thing that made her normal - this was supposed to be the thing she did just like everyone else. 

This was the thing that was supposed to go right. 

*  
Home, in bed, hugging Ella close, the letters still blinked behind her eyes, her infallible memory fixated. 

She shoved them into the back corner of her brain, feeling Fitz at the edges of her mind. As soon as he got past her blocking, he would know something was wrong. 

Their Cognate-ship was so much stronger now. 

Another thing that was supposed to go right. 

She couldn’t bring herself to answer when he asked what was wrong - the same way she knew he wasn’t reading her mind. He respected her privacy, and she loved him for that. 

And oh God. 

She did, didn’t she? 

She really, truly did. 

She stumbled through a conversation, coming up with a reason to cut contact. He didn’t question her. 

Sighing, relieved, she curled into a ball, the shades down, and Sandor outside her door. It was mid-afternoon, but she felt so heavy. So achingly tired. 

And so, Sophie Foster, the Keeper of the Lost Cities, the Moonlark, took a nap and hoped that somehow, impossibly, this would get better.

When she woke up, there was a box of ripplefluffs on the table. Chocolate and mint. Fitz’s favorite. Hers, too. 

She smiled because his baking was never as neat as Edaline’s. Fitz had come over.

And then she remembered what had led up to this, their telepathic conversation, and she realized that she could not, would not, drag him into this. 

He was a Vacker. He would never be a part of a bad match. 

So she took one of the little treats and padded to her desk, flipping open a journal. Not the projection journal with the silver moonlark, but her journal.

The faded, black, nondescript notebook Della had brought her. The only thing she had actually asked the Vackers for while she was in the Lost Cities. 

When Della had asked, again, if she was sure she couldn’t get Sophie anything. As Della had turned to leave her for the night in her borrowed bedroom before she fled to join the Black Swan. 

Something to write with, she had whispered. And something to write on. 

She had just smiled and nodded. I always keep an extra, she had said into the darkened room, before blinking away. When Sophie had come back from brushing her teeth, it was sitting on her bedside table. A black fabric cover, with none of the glitz and glitter of her home, covering dozens and dozens of creamy white pages. And a black pen, inset with a single teal gem, that wrote in a gorgeous golden ink. 

She hadn’t let it go since. 

In some quiet rebellion of her own, she had written it in English at first. Then, as she learned to expand her talents, she added other languages. But never the Enlightened language, and never Black Swan code. This was hers, and hers alone. Like her talents, regardless of their origin. Even Fitz had never seen it - just a brief acknowledgment of its existence in training. 

So she sat there, snacking quietly on the treats her… the treats Fitz had left her, writing down her day. How she felt, what had happened. Who she had thought of. 

But it wasn’t too long before she heard a gentle knock on her bedroom door.

Sandor never knocked. Edaline always announced herself, and Grady… Grady would have sent Eda for this. 

She knew who it was.

The same elf she had just decided she had to avoid. 

Soph?

His crisp accented voice was followed by another knock.

“Sophie?”

She smiled, in spite of herself, and closed the notebook. Her determination to shut him out, solid just moments ago, was nearly gone now. 

On the cover of the little book glinted three small letters, printed on the outer bottom corner - written in that same golden ink the night she had first written in it. The initials she thought of as hers, even though they weren’t by law. 

S.R.F. 

***

She stood, walking towards the door. What was the point of a seven-foot-tall goblin bodyguard if he wouldn’t keep away the people she didn’t want to see? To be fair, Sandor probably thought Fitz would help her. He wouldn’t be wrong…. If this was literally any other issue. 

The door swung open, and his hand fell from where it had been pressed against the frame. He looked unfairly cute in a gold-trimmed shirt that matched his eyes, and he definitely knew it. 

Still, he looked flustered. “Hey. I’m honestly surprised Grady let me up here but I think Edaline overruled him.” 

Sophie stepped aside wordlessly. Without further invitation, he walked into the room and sat down on the end of her bed. 

“She looked pretty shocked. And since you sounded so upset when we were talking, I thought I should check on you. But when I got here, Edaline said you were napping, so I baked - and honestly, I’m sure the gnomes hate me now for the mess I made in your kitchen - but I wanted to be here when you woke up and…”

*

She was crying. 

His rambling died off as soon as he noticed because gods she was crying. 

In all the time they had spent together, in all the times she had almost died, he had never seen her truly cry like this. She had cried before, out of frustration, anger, sadness. Stubbornly, trying to avoid it, when she was really truly hurt. But he always knew what was going on then. As awful as whatever it may have been was, he was always a part of it.

And besides, it was hard to picture her crying, ever. A tear or two, with a wince of pain? Yes. And once, one single, heartbreaking tear, when he had yelled at her, when he had blamed her, for something that wasn’t her fault? He couldn’t dwell on that. 

But now she was really, actually crying, and he had no idea what to do. And since he couldn’t exactly call Biana for help…

He stood up, and slowly closed the distance between them. She was still standing, halfway to her desk. In a distant part of his mind, he realized that her blinds were still down on her windows, the chandelier dimmed. A pen he had given her (to make up for the Riddler, he had said when he gave it to her. She had smiled at that) sat next to a black notebook he only recognized from training.

But the majority of his attention, now all of his attention, was focused on her. He bent down, wiped a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. And he almost, almost, contained his smile when she leaned into his touch. 

“Come here.”

He pulled her against him, noticing, not for the first time, how perfectly her head lay against his chest, how the height gap was just right for him to rest his chin on the top of her head. 

Another muffled sob sounded in the silence, and Fitz thought that he had never felt more helpless in his life. 

*

She was crying, and she hated it but she couldn’t stop. Vaguely, she was aware of him leading her to sit down on her bed - holding her tighter as he sat down next to her. Mostly, she was painfully aware of him - how close he was, and how much she loved the way she was nestled against him. 

Sophie pulled back, looking Fitz in the eye. And damn, if her heart didn’t skip a tiny beat at the smile he gave her. 

A movie star smile, she had thought before. 

“I wanted it to be you.”

“Soph, what happened?”

“I wanted it to be you.”

Her voice cracked on that syllable, the weight of this secret pressing down on her. But he looked so confused, so hurt that she had to tell him. 

“I went to the matchmaker’s today.”

And before he could interrupt with his conclusion, she pressed on. 

“Fitz, I will always be a bad match. No matter who I end up with. There’s no list for me. It just blinked,” she closed her eyes, trying to erase the image from her mind, “It just blinked the same four words. 

SOPHIE FOSTER IS UNMATCHABLE.”

Unbidden, one more tear tracked down her face. 

*

This was, Fitz realized, as he wiped away that tear, the thing that could make his great Sophie Foster cry. Not war, not the loss of a friend, not the impossible circumstance facing them. 

But fear of disappointing him. Fear of hurting him. He wanted to cry himself. 

And even as all the things he should say, wanted to say, rose to his mind, another conversation came back to him. 

“No one would volunteer to be a bad match.” 

The words had come so easily, such a flippant dismissal - before she had even confessed that she felt the same way. Because in his mind, no one would - the system, the prejudice, was to innate in him. 

But he pushed those thoughts away and smiled at her. 

For Sophie, he would always smile. 

“I don’t care.”


	2. Two:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi quick note - because there's no italics on AO3, telepathic conversations are noted with "/" on either end of a line of 'dialogue', instead of using quotation marks or italics.

The words blanked out her mind, even as he said them again. 

“I don’t care, Sophie.”

When she was still silent, he pulled her against him again. 

“How many times have we almost died? Have you almost died in front of me? I don’t care if you’re unmatchable or if that makes you a bad match. If it’s me, or if it ends up being someone else, I don’t care. 

I don’t want it to be you, Sophie. It is you. It will always be you.” 

Sophie didn’t know how to respond. 

“I know. It’ll always be you, too.”

And when he smiled, my god the way he smiled, she knew she had said the right thing. Especially because she believed it with every part of her heart. 

“Fitz, you’re a Vacker. You have this whole legacy and family and you’re basically the prince of the Lost Cities. Why would you give that up?”

There was an unspoken question that she hoped he heard. Why would he give that up for me?

“Sophie, you don’t know that this even means anything. Talk to Grady. Talk to my dad. They can figure out almost anything. And if they can’t, maybe I’ll be the first unmatched Vacker in history.”

Unmatched, he said, not Bad Match. Already, she could feel how profound the difference was, but she knew Stina wouldn’t care if there was a difference or not. 

She didn’t say that, though. She didn’t want to. She banished that way to the corner of her brain that was filled with things she didn’t want to think about, and she left it there to die. 

Sophie slowly wiggled her way out of Fitz’s arms, flopping back onto her bed. Seconds later, he joined her, his hand over hers. And they lay there in silence until he transmitted, softly and gently, 

/Hi./ 

/Hi./ 

/Since you’re all out of secrets… you are, right?/

/I hope so./ He smiled at that, even as an image of Keefe floated to the front of their minds. “The mysterious Ms. F,” he said with a wink.

/Nope nope nope this is me-time, no Keefe allowed./ 

This time she smiled. /I can live with that./

/Good. Because I have one more secret./ 

When the space between her brows scrunched in confusion, his mental voice laughed. 

Sophie thought it was almost as beautiful as his actual laugh. And then blushed because, 

/I forgot you can hear me./ 

/If it makes you feel better, that little eyebrow scrunch thing you do is adorable./ 

She blushed again, and this time his laugh was out loud, so low that she could feel it in the space between them. 

/You had a secret to share?/ 

/So sidetracking you doesn’t always work. Noted./ 

/Fitz…/

/You wanted to know what I transmit, right? To get past your blocking?/ 

/Yeah./

/“It’s me”. That’s all I’ve ever had to say. Just… “it’s me.”/

Sophie couldn’t form a response, verbal or mental, but she knew he could feel exactly how she felt about it. And she could see how much he loved that too - his whole mind lit up warm pinks and golds with happiness. 

/That was my first clue that maybe, maybe you felt the same about me./ 

And now it was Sophie’s turn to blush pink again, because she had, and she did, and she couldn’t believe she had thought that cutting him out of her life would have solved this mess. 

/You really would have done that?/ 

/I wouldn’t have wanted to I just… I want to protect you./ 

/You do protect me. By being my Cognate, my equal. Not by keeping secrets./ 

She smiled again, really more of an existing smile growing wider, and she tapped her fingernails together. The gloves gone, their rings snapped together. Fitz twined his fingers with hers. 

/Your mind feels different,/ she ventured after a while. She could feel his agreement before he transmitted a word. 

/Yours too. It’s not overwhelming at all, not like it used to be. Like I can process your memories now or something./ And when an emotion she couldn’t yet name rose, he identified it before she did. /It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Soph. Your mind is amazing - you’re amazing./ 

And even though she knew he could sense it already, she said it anyway. /Thank you. You saved me so many times and in so many ways and… I didn’t ever think I’d get this./ 

/You deserve it, Sophie. We deserve this. A happy ending, a moment of peace./ Regret flashed across his mind. /I just don’t know if I can promise it to you./ 

/As long as we aren’t keeping secrets, we can deal with everything else./ 

/As long as we’re together, Soph, we can deal with anything else./ 

For a long while, they lay there, side by side, hand in hand, mind in mind. And when Sophie asked, /How do we actually… become cognates?/ She thought he would explode from excitement. 

/Hands down, that is the cutest face you can ever make./

He squeezed her hand tighter. /To be official cognates, you have to pass a series of tests, but we’ve already proved we’re compatible. And this, Sophie, this being able to feel everything the other feels, this is the majority of being cognates. No secrets, and absolute trust./ 

/Trust me./ And before Fitz could ask what the hell that meant, she kissed him. Lightly, gently, but on the lips. And when she laughed at the look on his face, he almost spontaneously combusted. 

Screw matchmaking. Screw the Council. Screw bad matches. He wanted to spend his life with her. He was glad now that she could hear his every thought. He wanted her to know that. 

/I figured you would do that eventually, so I wanted to beat you to it./ Even her mental voice sounded amused, although maybe he could just read it better now. 

/I owed you a kiss anyway,/ Fitz conceded. He laughed too, with her, and then he kissed her back. Slowly, and just as gently, but longer. The answer to her unasked question. He kissed her like she was the most precious thing in the universe, and when she felt that thought brush her mind, she blushed so hard he could feel her cheeks flame pink underneath his hand. 

When he went to re-enter her mind, he found that he didn’t even have to try anymore - her shields were gone.

/They’re still up. Just not for you, apparently./ 

/I forgot you can still hear me./ 

/Yeah, I can. Sorry, do you want me to not?/ 

/Sophie, there’s nothing here you don’t already know. Except maybe how amazing you are, but I have a feeling I can convince you of that./ 

/Thank you, Fitz./ 

/For what?/

/Trusting me./ 

He pulled her closer to his chest, snuggling against her. He didn’t think she needed an answer to that. After all, everything he had to say had already crossed her mind. 

*

When Edaline came up to check on them an hour later, the first thing she noticed was that Fitz wasn’t sitting by Sophie’s door where she had left him. He had very politely, but very firmly, refused to leave her doorway until he was sure she was ok. Eda hadn’t argued with him. The second thing she noticed, when her knock went unanswered, was the smile on Sophie’s face. 

And the third, the most important thing she saw was how peacefully her daughter was sleeping - snuggled against her cognate. 

When she wandered back downstairs, the empty ripplefluff tray in one hand, Edaline rejoined Grady in his study - already looking for a way to fix this enormous thing for their daughter. Already looking to find a way to make just this one, one tiny enormous thing ok for her. But somehow, Edaline knew that even if they didn’t find an answer to yet another instance of Sophie-Foster-Makes-History, everything would work out ok. 

When she said as much to her husband, he just grunted. 

“At least she’s not up there with that Sencen boy.”


	3. Chapter 3

/How long has she been calling you Chandelier Head?/ 

/Too long,/ Fitz grumbled. 

Still, he smiled when Biana tossed a pillow at his (chandelier free) head.   
“Ow!” She shrieked another complaint, too, but Sophie couldn’t catch it through her laughter. 

Teaching Fitz how to braid hair was not going well. 

In theory, it had been a great idea - especially after an anxiety attack had left her nearly in tears. Flori had had to do three full braids to calm her down. After that, when Fitz had stood by and watched and felt so utterly helpless, he had wanted to learn. 

Plus, Sophie really really liked it when he played with her hair. 

“I give up! Go try on your girlfriend. You’ll be nicer to her.” Biana muttered under her breath one last time as she stood up gracefully, shaking the tangles from her long, dark hair. She scooped up a silver comb as she went, plopping herself by the vanity. 

Sophie just shrugged. “Go ahead, Chandelier Head.” 

Biana laughed so hard she fell off the chair, and Fitz felt obligated to prove he could do this. 

To be fair, it was a lot easier to braid someone’s hair when they could transmit instructions to you. 

After Sophie’s hair had been tucked back into a simple, but surprisingly well done, braid, she began to work little braids into Fitz’s shorter hair. This was an activity he took surprisingly well, even after Biana joined in and they began to chatter on and on. 

And when Biana brought up registering for her match, Sophie was proud of herself for not wincing too much. 

That was still something that needed to be figured out - and was a part of why she was at Everglen. Alden was meeting with a few of the Councilors to discuss what her results had meant, and she had refused to leave until she got an answer. 

When warned he might be home late, Biana just shrugged. “I guess this calls for a sleepover!” 

So there they were. In a few little ways, it was a lot like the first night Sophie had spent at Everglen. Finding Biana slung in an armchair, getting flustered by bumping into Fitz. In so many ways though, it was different. None of them felt truly safe anymore, even here. Fitz was tense everywhere except his own room - and his sister’s, which he jokingly deemed it too ‘girly’ to spend much time in. Sophie didn’t wander the halls alone now, either. By some unspoken consensus, none of them did. Biana came with her to brush her teeth, and they all spent the night in Biana’s room together. Fitz would wait for the girls before going to breakfast. 

They had learned the hard way that they were better in a group. 

So when Sophie dozed off leaning against Fitz, Biana didn’t tease her too much. She just tucked the other girl’s hair back and handed a blanket off to her brother. Sophie had been through so much, she thought, that she deserved some peace in these stolen moments. 

After Biana had found out about Sophie’s matchmaking crisis (because leave it to Sophie to break even that system) she was glad she didn’t have to beat her brother to a pulp. Not that she couldn’t do it, per se, but that if he hadn’t handled Sophie’s crisis the way she was assured he did, he would have had an ass whooping coming his way. 

She told him as much, in front of Sophie. And they had laughed for hours, to Fitz’s chagrin. He didn’t even contest that Biana could beat him. (He knew better). 

But this night was peaceful, or as peaceful as a night can get when one is awaiting to-be-determined news. So after Sophie had drifted off, with Fitz not far behind, Biana had let herself sleep too. Maybe when she woke up, the world would be a better place. Or at least, her dad would be home with some answers for her friend. 

Unfortunately, it’s never that easy. 

*

Even in her dreams, she could feel his presence. Not in a bad way, in the best way. Somehow, like Silvenly once had, he kept the nightmares away. At least a little. Not with the intensity of a glittery Alicorn momma, but with a quiet presence. And she could sense that some little part of her was protecting his dreams too. 

It’s not that they couldn’t separate their minds, it’s that it was so effortless now, so easy to see through the other’s eyes and the other’s thoughts, that they almost forgot they were still connected. 

Alden had called it incredible when Fitz had asked if it was normal of Cognates, and Tiergan had said he had never seen anything like it. He told them they could be the strongest Cognate pair ever - and how Fitz had lit up at that! But he also warned them to be careful - even with Sophie adding a little extra boost to his shields, he could be used to get into her mind. And while Fitz was worried, Sophie was unfazed. /Only three people, like ever, have gotten past you - and that was just you. And one of them was me so that hardly counts./ 

He had flicked her on the nose when she made that snarky comment but then given her a quick kiss that more than made up for it.

God, how she loved it when he did that. How his face softened slightly - like she was the center of the world. How bright his beautiful teal eyes got. And how happy he looked when she kissed him back. He laughed so much more now - was so much more relaxed and happy around her. And while part of her couldn’t believe it had taken them this long, a larger part of her loved how new everything was. 

She knew he did too. Whenever she was around - whenever he was flirting with her or hugging her or even sitting near her, his mind was a web of glowing gold and warm brown and happy darker pinks - the colors he associated with her. 

For now, though, they were sitting together, as alone as Sophie could get with a multi-species bodyguard unit trailing her 24/7. Still, Sandor had agreed to give her some small measure of privacy, so that was something. Progress. 

Not that they were making any of that with the Neverseen. Sophie took a deep breath and let the sunshine settle over her. Calla’s branches curled closer like a blanket, and she smiled, the tension in her shoulders gone, at least for now. 

And then that word came back, searing and green in her mind’s eye. 

UNMATCHABLE. 

The shift in her emotions was almost too fast for Fitz to catch, but he certainly felt it when she grabbed his other hand and asked in a far too quiet voice, “Are you sure?”

He didn’t have to be her cognate to know what she meant. And for a moment, he considered lying to her. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.

“A while back, before everything with Alvar, right after I left the Healing Center, Biana and I were talking. And she told me that I should just get you a set of crush cuffs and be done with it.” 

Sophie tugged at the teal heart hanging from her neck and giggled. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me too. But I told her I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to pressure you into getting your lists. And then I told her that you would definitely choose to be matched because no one would volunteer to be a bad match.”

Sophie froze, hand on her necklace. 

“I’m scared, Soph. My parents love you, and I couldn’t care less about the Council, but I’m still trying to figure out what our world is becoming. And I know my extended family won’t approve. I don’t care what they think, not really, but they have more weight than most of the Council members. I’m scared of how our society will treat us - will treat you - if we do end up a bad match.” 

He stopped her as she reached for an eyelash. 

“Fitz, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to stay with me, with this mess. There are a thousand girls who would kill to date you.” 

And then he smiled again, and Sophie’s heart melted. 

“I don’t want them. I want you, and only you.”

“But you said…”

“I’m scared, yeah. But I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not scared for me, I’m worried for you. You can read my thoughts if you need to, Soph. I’m not. Going. Anywhere.”

She nodded shakily, and then said, “I don’t need to. Read your mind, I mean. I trust you.”

“Thank you, Sophie. For trusting me. For letting me trust you. For showing me everything that’s wrong with this world. For making all of it so much better anyway.” Her heart fluttered again as he leaned in, ever so slowly, giving her time to back away. 

And he always would, she realized. He would always give her time to change her mind or back away if she needed the space. She loved that about him. 

But this time, in the golden wash of sunset by Calla’s tree, she didn’t want to be anywhere but where she was. Sophie leaned closer, placing one hand gently on Fitz’s cheek. He closed his eyes as he leaned into her hand. And when he kissed her, their second real kiss, even a photographic memory wasn’t enough to let her remember anything but him. 

From the kitchen of Havenfield, Grady scowled. “She’s KISSING a BOY!”

Edaline looped her arm through his, leaning a delicate head on her husband's broad shoulder. “Aren’t they so adorable?”

When the only response she got was a wordless grunt, she still smiled serenely. “Be a love and put the kettle on, Grady. I think they’ll be coming in for Mallowmelt soon.”


	4. Chapter 4

Something was wrong. 

 

Something was terribly horribly wrong. 

 

That was all Sophie knew as she bolted out of bed in the middle of the night. She grabbed Sandor by the arm as she sprinted for the Leapmaster. 

 

“We’re going to Everglen, either come with me or I’ll drop you right now and leave you here. I can inflict on you so that you won’t be able to move until morning.”

 

Sandor let himself be pulled along. He knew better than to question his charge if she had threatened him. Especially when she looked so upset. But he still did anyway. 

 

“What’s going on, Ms. Foster?”

 

“Something is wrong, Sandor. Let’s go.”

 

The tone was not that of his young charge, but of the leader, the Queen, that the Black Swan was grooming her to be. And Sandor was a soldier. He knew when to follow an order. 

 

They were gone before he could second-guess his choice. 

 

***

Although the massive gates were gone now, the crystal at Havenfield still landed them outside where the massive entrance used to be. She was past that too, before Sandor could even complain about her method - catapulting them high into the air with telekinesis, then teleporting them straight into the entryway of the mansion. He had barely regained his breath before Sophie was off again, sprinting up stairs - levitating when it was faster than walking - and then dropping to the floor at a dead run. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, even in the dark. 

 

So Sandor called together the other bodyguards of the house to see if there really was something wrong. 

 

***

 

Sophie skidded to a stop outside Fitz’s door, opening it without bothering to knock. The door was cracked already - someone else had been woken by his muffled sobs. He was asleep, lying still in his massive bed, but that wasn’t what she was worried about. Slowly, she sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching her mind for his. 

 

And then she hit the rolling, boiling black of his echo, screaming in time to his nightmares. 

 

She had no idea how long she sat there, clutching his hand, their rings locked together. She persuaded and inflicted and soothed, bartered and coerced - until she finally managed to, for lack of a better term, lock away his echo. When she finally opened her eyes, Alden and Della were standing over her. She knew Biana was probably in the east corner - that's where there was the least light - but she didn’t get really worried until she noticed Elwin sitting on the other side of the bed. 

 

The physician sounded tired and old beyond his years when he asked, “Sophie, what did you do?”

 

“I trapped it.”

 

And with that, she passed out. 

 

*

When she woke a moment later, the same collection of worried faces surrounded her. Something purple flashed at the edge of her vision, and a pair of multi-colored glasses came slowly into focus.

 

“Sophie, you alright?”

 

Slowly, with more help than she’d like to admit, she sat up. “Fine.”

 

“Can you tell me what happened?”   
  


“I woke up. And something was wrong.”

 

“What do you mean?”   
  


“With Fitz. I didn’t know what, but I could tell something was wrong. So I came here as fast as I could, and that’s when I realized it was his echo. So I inflicted as many good, calming things on it as I could - and I built it a trap. I lured it in with a negative emotion, but when the echo started to ... feed… on it, I let the feeling turn positive. I used the time that Fitz hated me, the very short time when Alden was… broken… and then let his own emotions change to where they are now. That’s when I used our bond and trust to build a cage around the echo. It’s sort of golden and shimmery.”

 

He sounded amazed when he said, “I can see the outline of it.”

 

Sophie smiled. “Good. It’s working. The echo will stay there. I don’t think it can hurt Fitz at all anymore. If it does, it’ll just get weaker. As long as we stay cognates, the cage will stay. As the echo fades, it’ll protect him.”

 

Elwin lowered his glasses. “Sophie, the best shades in our world couldn’t contain these echoes. How did you know how to do this?”

 

“I didn’t.”

 

When she was met with a room of confused looks, she amended, “I didn’t know the echo. But I know Fitz, probably better than anyone alive.” She glanced apologetically at Alden and Della, but they seemed to understand, so she pressed on. “I relied on that - on him - to trap the echo. Not the other way around. It’s not about the echo. It’s about the person. I know my way through his mind well enough to use it to fight his echo off.”

 

“Sophie,” Alden’s accented voice broke in, “How did you know his echo was hurting at all? Havenfield is nearly across the globe, and you didn’t say he transmitted for help at all.”

 

“He didn’t. I just knew. I woke up, my chest hurt, and I knew he needed me.”

 

Sophie looked once more at Della and Alden before she said, “He’s ok now, I think. But I’d like to stay here to make sure. Is that ok?”

 

When Della nodded, “Your usual bedroom is still right next door,” Sophie shook her head. 

 

“Can I stay  _ here _ ?” 

 

Alden’s eyebrows shot up, but Della just smiled. “Of course.”

 

Then, silently, the adults filed out of the room, snapping to darken the crystal once more. Sophie could hear Elwin talking to Alden in a quiet voice, Della sighing and saying they could discuss it just as well in the morning. When the voices dispersed, Sophie finally lay down once more, leaning on Fitz’s shoulder. 

 

“Hi, Biana.”

 

“Is he ok?”

 

“Now he is. I promise.”

 

“I came in right before you did, and I saw him crying and it was horrible, Sophie. He went from a terrible nightmare to sleeping fine once you got here. And it took so  **long** \- long enough to get my parents up and get Elwin.”

 

“He’s ok now. Try to get some rest.”

 

“Goodnight, Soph.”

 

“Night, B.”

 

The door opened ever so slightly and then shut one more time as Biana returned to her room. 

 

So Sophie lay down by her cognate and closed her eyes. She could hardly think straight, let alone figure out how she had known to come, but she knew it wouldn’t have worked on anyone but Fitz. 

 

The last thing she heard before she drifted off was “Sophie?”, followed closely by Fitz’s arms wrapping around her. But she was too far gone to even open her eyes, so instead, she snuggled into his chest, her head in the middle of his chest, tucked under his collarbone. 

 

And she fell asleep to the steady beating of his heart. 

 

*

 

When she woke up, Fitz was still holding her, but daylight now streamed through his windows. Sophie gave a little sigh and snuggled closer to him. It was only when he chuckled in response that she realized he was awake. 

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hi, Sophie.” And after a moment of comfortable silence, Fitz added, “Not that I’m complaining, but when, exactly did you get here?”

 

She sighed. “How much do you remember?”

 

“Of when, last night?” Sophie nodded, and he kept speaking. “You weren’t here, I went to bed, and when I woke up, you were here.”

 

“Did you have a nightmare?”

 

“...how did you know?”

 

“Your echo went off in the middle of the night. Badly, Fitz.”

 

“But that doesn’t make sense. The echo is triggered by…”

 

She finished the sentence for him. “Strong emotion. Which could happen if it was a bad enough nightmare.” 

 

“I dreamed we were back in the clearing when we got the echoes. And I was stuck in a force field and just watched as they hurt you and hurt you and Dex and Wylie never came. And then they killed you, and Ruy laughed. And they just leapt away, and I still couldn’t reach you.”

 

He was crying now, she could feel it on the top of her head and in his voice. Sophie leaned back, wiping away a tear the way Fitz had done for her only days before. “I’m here. I’m ok. This is real, Fitz.”

 

He smiled, and when her heart fluttered she was reminded to check on his. 

 

“How does your echo feel now?”

 

Fitz took a deep breath, and then another. “I can feel it, but it’s separated itself, somehow. I feel like I can breathe again.”

 

And when Sophie smiled, and Fitz asked why, she told him the whole story, from the moment she woke up. 

 

“You said your chest hurt when you woke up?”

 

“Not as badly as an echo would. It was like an echo of an echo.”

 

Fitz frowned. “I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m not. If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten here soon enough to fight it off.”

 

He seemed unconvinced, but Sophie was already untangling herself from the covers. “Come on, I think Elwin is worried sick, and I want him to check both echoes for us.”

 

“You’re amazing, you know that, right?”

 

She turned back, legs over the side of the bed, to where Fitz was still propped up on a pillow. When she slowly shook her head, he sighed. 

 

“Sophie, you probably saved my life last night. The best shades in the world couldn’t do what you did.”

 

“I could only do it because it was you.”  Her hand caught her necklace again, and Fitz couldn’t help but smile. 

 

And then she bit her lip, something else occuring to her. “Besides, it shouldn’t have been bothering you in the first place. I should have sent Flori over with her new song as soon as we knew it worked on me.” 

 

“Does that mean I should be less impressed? Besides, Soph, there’s been so much going on. It’s not your fault.”

 

She looked unconvinced, but didn’t argue. Instead, Sophie just smiled back. “Come on. I can hear Sandor pacing from here.”

 

And so, hand in hand, they went downstairs to face the day.

 

*

 

“I can hardly see his echo. I’m still not sure what you did, Sophie, but it seems to be working.” Elwin was bent over Fitz’s chair, flashing light so rapidly Sophie could hardly keep up. 

 

“Good. Check mine now, please.”

 

This time, the healer frowned at what he found. “It looks the same. It’s definitely fading a lot faster, though. And it’s way smaller than it used to be. Does it still hurt?”

 

Sophie shook her head. That the echo was fading was more than she had hoped for. At worst, she had figured hers would have flared after she had messed with Fitz’s echo. At best, she had expected it to stay the same. 

 

So Sophie was relieved, to say the least. 

 

Once checkups were complete and Sophie had tried, one more time, to talk Alden through what she had done (with a little more success now that they were all awake), she headed home with a hug or three, a promise to hail Biana later, and too many thank-yous.

 

Fitz just stood by her, offering telepathically to walk her to the gates. 

 

She nodded, and they went off, Sandor by her side. He had received his own goodbye hug from Grizel. Sophie had never know that goblins could blush. Sandor insisted on walking several feet ahead of them, and Sophie wondered if it was to keep her teasing at bay. If it was, it wouldn’t work for long. But Sophie didn’t mind for now. She reached over and took Fitz’s hand, their rings snapping together. It felt like second nature now to reach for his mind at the same time, which she did. 

 

As soon as she was past his blocking, his accented voice filled her mind. 

 

_ Thank you. _

 

_ Stop it. Stop thanking me. I don’t even know what I did. _

 

_ And? You saved my life. That’s enough to thank you for.  _

 

_ But I endangered it in the first place! _

 

_ Sophie. You saved me. _

 

They walked a few more paces in comfortable silence. Now that there were no secrets to keep guarded, it was almost harder to not have her mind connect to Fitz’s. 

 

_ It’s weird, isn’t it? _

 

_ Is this what being cognates is like? _

 

_ I think so.  _

 

_ Is that why I could beat the echo last night? Because you’re my cognate? _

 

_ Maybe. I’ll ask my dad.  _

 

An image of Alden’s confusion floated to the front of Sophie’s mind.  _ I’m not sure he quite understood what I did in the first place. I’m not sure  _ **_I_ ** _ understand. _

 

Fitz laughed.  _ We’ll figure it out, Soph.  _

 

When they reached the giant gates, he pulled her into a hug.  _ Promise me you’ll transmit later? _

 

_ Of course. _

 

When she gently put her shields up again, it felt like a part of herself had just slipped out of her grasp. That was her first hint that there was something there - something more than just their cognate bond. 

 

When Sophie waved goodbye, she could tell Fitz had felt the same thing. 

 

*

 

Fitz was unsure he would ever stop smiling again. 

 

Because they were cognates (oh my god they were cognates). Because she had done the impossible, again, and because Sophie Foster had held his hand. Had kissed him back. 

 

And the world was still an awful place. The Neverseen were still roaming free and Fitz honestly couldn’t care less. He was surprised to realize that he was well and truly happy. 

 

He could tell when he wandered back into his home that his grin was ridiculous by the face Biana made at him. 

 

“How’s Sophieeeeee??”

 

She really did have that Annoying Little Sister role down. 

 

“You saw her five minutes ago.”

 

“Yeah, and you weren’t grinning like that five minutes ago.”

 

Fitz just shook his head and walked up the stairs, ignoring her questions. He could deal with her later. But not right now. Not while everything felt perfect. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

“SERIOUSLY??”

 

“Biana, BREATHE.”

 

“YOU WENT TO ATLANTIS WITH DEX. AND YOU DIDN'T  **INVITE ME** ???” 

 

“I’m sorry, B. Want to go out tomorrow?”

 

“....Will Dex be there?”

 

“Do you want him to be?” 

 

_ She likes Dex?? _

 

“Your brother is eavesdropping.”

 

_ No fair.  _

 

_ Sorry. _

 

_ Your sarcasm is tangible.  _

 

He could feel her smile as Biana closed her door. And even though he definitely wasn’t listening, he didn’t let their connection drop. 

 

Neither did Sophie. 

 

***

In the end, they all went to Atlantis - the original squad, as Keefe called them. Fitz and Biana, and Sophie and Dex, and Keefe, all wandering about. They had asked Linh, but she had cited some vague project with Wylie. Sophie hadn’t pushed her. Alden had been reluctant to let the five of them loose on the city, but with many,  **many** promises to keep them in line, Sandor had been allowed to take them. The plan was to meet back at a specific time, where Grady would take them back to Havenfield for dinner. Flori was making Starkflower stew, and everyone else was more than thrilled. 

 

Even the ogres had agreed to try it. 

 

So Bo and Ro and Sandor and Grizel and a very begrudging Woltzer (who was going to be reassigned soon, at Sandor’s orders) were on security detail. 

 

The kids themselves had been sent off with one order. To try to enjoy themselves and be “normal teenagers.” Eda had been very clear that no worrying was allowed. Grady had agreed, with some stern glares at the boys. 

 

So they were off, dressed up at Biana’s request. Dex had gel in his hair, Keefe was all sorts of fancy, and Fitz, as usual, looked amazing. Biana herself was wearing a stunning gold jumpsuit that melted down her shoulders into a dusty pink cape, and split into two wide pant legs that looked all the world for a tailored skirt. The whole thing was embedded with rosey gems that sparkled in the light. On Sophie, it would have looked like the outfit of a very vain, very metallic superhero. On Biana, it looked like it had walked off the catwalk of New York Fashion week. (Once that compliment had been explained, Biana wouldn’t stop walking like she actually was on a runway. Sophie swore that if that girl had been born a human, she would be running a fashion empire before she turned twenty.)

 

In fact, they all looked like models in their dressy clothes and jewels. Dex was the only one who looked as uncomfortable as Sophie felt, and he was adjusting quickly. 

 

As for Sophie, she had gold eyeliner on again, matched to rosey highlighter and shimmery lipstick. Her dress was simple - black velvet that billowed loosely down her body in layers, all trimmed with gold. The skirts were set with golden beads and diamonds near the bottom. She looked like the night sky incarnate. 

 

“You do,” Biana had tossed over her shoulder when Sophie had said as much about the dress. “But you look more like a black swan.” And she could live with that. 

 

Especially when she had seen Fitz’s face. If that was the reaction she got, she would have to dress up more often. 

 

_ You definitely should _ , he murmured as they linked hands to light leap (because “teleportation would mess up my HAIR! We don’t ruin the Hair, Foster!” “But, won’t the waterslide into Atlantis do that anyway?” “Trust my methods, and leave your fancy logic out if it, Foster!”)

 

At Keefe’s behest (read: whining) they had agreed to talk like “normal people” today. And Sophie felt like a tiny part of her was dying when she had to wait for Fitz to say something out loud. It had become so natural to speak to him without speaking at all. 

 

“Telepathy is normal, Keefe.”

 

“Not for the rest of us!!”

 

“C’mon Keefe, I thought you were team Fitzphie!” Sophie had elbowed him gently at that. 

 

While Keefe was preparing for an epic comeback, she put her many talents to use. 

“Oh look! They’re staring into each other’s eyes again! Captain Cognate and Sophie Foster… Fitzphie! Team Fitz!” As she spoke, she hovered slightly off the ground, putting herself at the same height as Keefe. And her voice was exactly his, but drained of all the bitterness and hurt, and filled with false enthusiasm. 

 

Keefe looked shocked as she touched down again, and Dex was wheezing with laughter. Biana, on the other hand, was doubled over. 

 

“You even got the face right!”

 

Sophie took a little bow as Keefe finally cracked. “You win this time, Foster.”

 

A few minutes later, the conversation moved on, Keefe wandered up to Sophie, taking advantage of Fitz shrieking after his sister. “There was never another team, Foster.” His voice was quiet, and the littlest bit of hurt had snuck back into his tone.

 

She gave him a Look that he knew meant he’d get telepathically chewed out later, but then she nodded. “I know. Thank you for that.” Sophie squeezed his hand once, and then added, “I bet it takes Biana less than a half hour to drag us all shoe shopping.”

 

Keefe chewed his lip, pretending to consider. 

 

“20 minutes, and jewelry.” 

 

Sophie shook his hand - challenge accepted. When they had returned to walking in comfortable silence, Keefe whispered, “So what do I get when I win, Foster?”

 

She just smiled. “A favor of your choice?”

 

“You’re going to regret that.”

 

“Maybe. Maybe not. You might be the one regretting it.”

 

Twenty nine minutes later, they got dragged into a shoe shop by a squealing Biana, who surprisingly wanted to look at new boots. Sophie ended up buying some too. Sensible ones, with a flexible sole and no heel at all. (“Plenty of room for pockets,” she had told Dex, who flashed her a smile.) When they emerged, Sophie grinning ear to ear, Keefe scowled playfully. 

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Her favorite jewelry store is on the other side of Atlantis. It’ll be at least an hour and three more stops before we get there.”

 

“...”

 

*

They ended up stopping six times before Biana got to her jewelry store. Keefe was hungry, and then Dex saw some crazy… something… he wanted to check out (he’d spouted off all the technobabble, but no one could even pretend to understand it). And then Biana had spotted a new cosmetics line she just had to check out. And some sparkly, fancy clothes that Sophie had no idea if or where she would ever wear, but Biana bought anyway. 

 

At one point, when they had lost track of Keefe, they found him and Dex in a bookstore, pouring over alchemic textbooks. They failed to consider how much time Sophie would spend in a bookstore (answer: too long), and she left with a stack of books that wouldn’t fit in her arms if she wanted them too. Before she could figure out how to deal with that, though, her pile of shopping was whisked out of her arms. It floated beside her now, far more neatly stacked than she had managed herself. Telekinesis. 

 

_ Show-off. _

 

_ I thought you promised Keefe no telepathy? _

 

_ Meh. He won’t notice. He’s too busy plotting against Biana with Dex.  _ Indeed, their friends had drifted away, and Sophie pitched a few out-loud comments at them, before resuming staring at the street around her. 

 

Fitz laughed.  _ Fair enough. I missed you.  _

 

_ I’ve been holding your hand the whole time.  _

 

_ I know but I missed this you.  _

 

Sophie raised an eyebrow.

 

_ This. You. This part of you that… _  he trailed off, knowing that she could read the thought before he formed it fully. The part of her that felt like it belonged to him, that was as much a part of him as his power. How natural it felt to talk to her like this, when their minds blended together at the edges and became almost one. How much closer to her he felt, knowing he had her complete trust, and that she had his.  _ The part of you that is mine. My equal, my cognate, my friend _ . She felt his utter love and trust in her, and it made her giddy with happiness. 

 

_ I know. I missed us too.  _

 

_ We’re still us without telepathy, Soph.  _

 

_ Not like this. _

 

_ No. But in all the ways that matter anyway.  _

 

Had their friends turned back, they would have noticed the silence, the looking into each other’s eyes, and the fact that Sophie’s arm was now around Fitz’s waist, his arm on her shoulders. Dex and Biana didn’t notice, too caught up in a debate about the potential usefulness of high heels that could become knives. Keefe did notice, turning around in Foster’s sudden quiet. 

 

But he didn’t say anything, not even when they walked like that for the rest of the night. 

 

Not even when he brushed past Fitz, and felt such a strong urge to kiss her that he almost had to run away. 

 

Not even hours later, when a certain pair of golden brown eyes smiled at him from his irritatingly perfect memory. Not when he couldn’t get her out of his head, and not when, even after being apart from Fitz from hours, he couldn’t quite get that urge out of his mind. He had already said everything that needed to be said. 

 

There was never another team. He wasn’t a telepath, but he  **was** an empath. And in this case, that was almost worse. 

 

He whispered it into the darkness around him as he fell asleep. 

 

“There was never another team.”


End file.
